While I was hunkered down in the office yesterday, Sarah took a little visit to the fields to check that her dahlia babies were still tucked in to give them the best chance of surviving this nasty cold snap. She sent me this nice photo of the snow blown field.
In the 24 years I’ve been farming in the area this is only the second of third time I can remember getting nearly this cold, and it’s possibly the longest we had such low temps with this little snow to insulate the ground and plants.
It’s impossible to tell what impact it will have on the crops in the field until the field actually thaws. The impact isn’t just from the low temps, it’s also so many other factors: wind, sun, what growth stage the plants are at, how much ground cover there is, etc, etc. We were reasonably well set for the cold temps, at least in terms of the farm infrastructure which basically means water lines drained, plastic off the hoop house.
I know at least a few things will survive, and a few won’t. Fingers crossed there’s enough time for thawing before Thursday morning’s harvest, and the forecast makes it look like that might happen but it’s going to be tight. If you’re a CSA member keep an eye on your email in case we have to delay the harvest. No news will be good news though, and I think we’ll be able to do it.
Cully Neighborhood Farm 